The District of Columbia is appealing a lower court’s decision that ruled that the laws banning handguns is illegal.  I’m always amazed when liberals what all these freedoms, yet when it comes to the second amendment, they are surprisingly conservative.

The question at hand is: Does the second amendment apply to individuals or to militias?

The argument that DC is making is that the Constitution explicitly states that militias are to be the only ones that have guns to protect states from the federal government.  Let’s look at this amendment:

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Let’s ask the scientific question, "For what reason would the Founders include this right after the amendment that guarantees the right free speech, right to petition, and the right to congregate?"  If you look at the history of the Revolutionary war, it wasn’t fought by organized armies.  They were fought by farmers, countrymen, and bakers.  Many of these citizens where angry that an oppressive government would force down edicts without a way to legally appeal them.  These citizens were forced with arms.

The security of the United States was not won by a militia; it was won because a community of people said, "Enough is enough" and stood their ground, prepared to die for what they believed in.

This week, two leading researchers have found ways to create embryonic stem cells from skin cells.  This is great news to both the Christian community that believe that harvesting embryos for stem cells is morally wrong and the medical community that wants to use those stem cells to create cures for diseases.  However, it leaves one group out: The pro-abortionists.

For years now, those that support abortion have put people like Michael J. Fox — who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease — in front of the media saying that aborted embryos provide stem cells that could, in essence, cure anything.  I’ve always seen this argument as misleading and analogous to the salesmen of the 1940’s that sold snake oil door-to-door.  Regardless, without embryonic stem cells, research into other fatal diseases would be halted.  Let’s step aside from the fact that stem cells from embryos has not provided any results while those derived from fatty tissue and umbilical cords have.  Now, that there is a way to convert skin cells into embryonic stem cells, the pro-abortionists just lost their biggest gun.

So what to do now?  It will be interesting how they handle this research.  On the one hand, if they denounce it, it will show that they really don’t care about debilitating diseases.  On the other hand, if they say the research is viable, they no longer have the argument that aborted embryos can be used for science.

Catch 22.